


I'm On The Menu

by Humansunshine



Series: WLW Fic Bingo 2019 [8]
Category: Shadowhunters (TV)
Genre: F/F, Future Fic, Lesbian Clary Fray, Meet-Cute, Past Clary Fray/Jace Lightwood - Freeform, Past Maia/Bat, Post-Canon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-17
Updated: 2019-07-17
Packaged: 2020-06-30 10:34:48
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,033
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19851361
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Humansunshine/pseuds/Humansunshine
Summary: When Clary Fray walks into Maia's restaurant 6 years after her disappearance from the shadow world, Maia is bowled over. Clary's changed a lot, and so has she. They have a lot to talk about.





	I'm On The Menu

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first offering for the 2019 Shadowhunters wlw fic bingo event! I'm part of Team Blue and this is meant to fill the 'Post Canon' square. Thanks so much to Rike for organising this event, I'm so excited!
> 
> Trigger warning for ableist language: Clary calls the situation "crazy".
> 
> Also I realised in my read-through that Clary would've recognised Dot because she knew Dot before the shadowhunter nonsense... I will put my hands up to this plot hole, and I hope you can ignore it!

Hiring a manager was the best decision that Maia had made in years. This time last year, she’d been running herself ragged for 12 hours a day, responsible for absolutely everything and everyone inside the restaurant. She would organise the deliveries, balance the books, brief the staff, deal with problem customers, supervise the standards of food, and then cash up at the end of the night before trudging upstairs to the flat, crashing onto her bed and starting it all over the next day.

Now, sharing those responsibilities with Dot, Maia actually had more than five minutes a day for herself. She could even afford to have an early 45 minute lunch break down in the restaurant, among her customers and staff. It was an opportunity for the staff to sit down with her and raise any concerns about the work environment or food, or make suggestions. Today, she and Dot were discussing the possibility of Dot bringing her daughter Madzie to work with her now that the summer holidays were coming up.

“It won’t be every day,” Dot assured Maia, “she’s going to be going to the academy for four days a week, it’d just be on Sundays and the occasional Friday.”

“I don’t have a problem with Madzie being here,” Maia answered, “but I’m just worried she’s gonna be bored. It’s a long day, and she’s only twelve.”

“Yeah, I know. I think she could probably bring some homework or something, but…”

“Well, why don’t we try it out?” Maia suggested, “if all else fails, she can hang out upstairs in my place and watch TV.” 

“Only if that’s okay with you.” Dot insisted, and Maia waved it away. 

“It’s absolutely fine. She’s too old for a babysitter.”

“But not old enough to be left at home alone,” Dot agreed, sighing. “It’s an awkward age.”

“Cat’s still working weekends too?” Maia sympathised.

Dot nodded. “Weekends are the busiest time at the hospital. She’ll be able to swing it when she makes Senior Nurse at the end of the year, but that doesn’t help us this summer.”

Maia smiled, reaching over to squeeze Dot’s hand reassuringly. “I’ve got your back, whatever you need. God knows you saved my ass with this place.”

“Excuse me?” 

Maia glanced up, her customer service smile on her face. When she met the eyes of Clary Fray, she couldn’t stop the ways her eyes widened. Clary’s face lit up with relief.

“You know me.” 

Dot looked around, her mouth falling open when she saw Clary standing there. Clary looked between Dot and Maia, swallowing hard.

“You both know me.”

“Uhhh…” Maia looked at Dot for help, but Dot appeared to be just as shocked as she was. “I-I don’t…”

Clary dug in her backpack for a folder, and put it down on the table between Maia and Dot. “I have a picture of me and you at some bar. You know me.”

Maia opened the folder, several pictures spilling out. The one on top was a printed out selfie that she and Clary had taken at the Hunter’s Moon. Maia felt emotional looking at it, and kept her eyes down on the picture. “Where did you get this?” She asked.

“I should go back to work,” Dot said, getting up so Clary could take her place opposite Maia. As she walked by, Dot gently patted Maia’s shoulder in solidarity. 

Clary was looking at Maia with desperation when she finally looked up. “Please. I found myself in a park six years ago with no memory of the two years before. I have scoured social media, hired private investigators… I have no-one left. One minute I was applying for art school, I had a Mom and an adoptive father, a best friend… The next I was in an empty park with make-up running down my face and nothing but the clothes on my back and my phone. Please, Maia. I know you know something.”

“Look…” Maia said slowly, “I don’t know if this a good idea, you talking to me.”

Clary reached across the table, gripping Maia’s hand hard. “Please. I’m begging you, and I think you know me well enough to know that I don’t beg.”

“You wouldn’t believe me if I told you,” Maia replied. “Clary, if you’ve hired private investigators, you must have at least some money. You’ve built a life for yourself, away from all this. You should-”

“There’s a dish named after me on your menu,” Clary pressed, “I meant something to you. You meant something to me. I know it.”

Maia met Clary’s eyes. Six years ago, Clary had chosen to sacrifice her life in the shadow world to kill Jonathan once and for all. She’d left Jace heartbroken. She’d left all of them heartbroken. Everyone had moved on, eventually. Jace had gotten married to a shadowhunter woman last year. Izzy and Simon had moved in together and were probably going to be engaged soon. Alec and Magnus were busy with their second adopted baby, and Luke was stationed in the Lima Institute. They’d all forged lives for themselves in a peaceful shadow world, thanks to Clary. 

Maia owed her. She knew that.

“You meant a lot to a lot of people, Clary. You were a good friend to me. I admired you. I wished, after you’d gone, that I’d gotten to know you better.” Maia confessed. “I wasn’t there when you lost your memories, but Alec filled me in on what happened.”

“Alec… Lightwood?” Clary asked, rummaging in the pile of photographs in her folder. “This man?” She shoved a picture of Alec and Magnus’ wedding in front of Maia, pointing to Alec’s face. “This was the last photograph on my phone, the last one I took before I lost my memories.”

“Yeah, you disappeared after their wedding reception.” Maia confirmed.

“Why? How?” 

Maia had no idea where to begin. “Hey, look, maybe we should order some food. This is gonna take a while.”

~~~~~~~~~~

“Do you believe me?” Maia asked. Clary had been silent for at least a full minute, staring at her with shock. 

Clary blinked slowly. “I… Yeah. I think I do. I mean, it explains why I have photos of Simon dated months after his Mom told me he died. I’m…” She shook her head, sniffing. “He’s alive. Luke’s alive, I can’t believe this.”

“They really wanted to reach out to you after you disappeared, Luke was bereft.” Maia told her. “But Magnus said it would be too confusing for you. Without your runes, you’re vulnerable. If you got involved in the shadow world again, it would be dangerous.” Maia swallowed hard. “He’s going to be pretty mad when I tell him about this.”

“I joked when I was in the shelter that I must have a fairy godmother,” Clary huffed out a laugh. “When I went to check my bank account with my support worker, to get a new card, I had tens of thousands of dollars in there. No-one could explain it, it just… Appeared. But the bank didn’t seem bothered, they just let me keep it. And then I sold the first painting I did to this super rich mystery patron. It meant that I could stage my own show at a gallery.”

“Magnus promised Jace that he’d make sure you were safe and settled,” Maia confirmed, “it was the only way we could convince him to stop visiting you.”

“You said he and I… We were… Together?” Clary asked.

“Yeah. You were his first love, he cared about you a lot.”

“What happened to him? I vaguely remember meeting him a couple of times, but then he just disappeared. It’s why I went to the private investigator. I knew, deep down, that he knew something.” Clary explained, “and when he bailed I thought, I don’t know, that he was a spy or something.”

Maia snorted at the thought of Jace as a spy. “No, Magnus and Alec stepped in. He was obsessed, it was taking over his life. And it wasn’t fair to you, either. Izzy agreed to transfer him out of New York. He didn’t speak to Izzy and Alec for years because of it, but when he met his wife, he realised that they’d acted in his best interests.”

“I’m glad that he found some peace,” Clary said quietly, “from what you said, he’d been through hell.”

“He’s happy now.” Maia assured him. 

Clary nodded. “I’m glad. It’s a little weird for me to think about.”

“How do you mean?” Maia asked, tilting her head to the side. 

“I mean, I’ve been out as a lesbian for years now. It’s crazy to me to think that I ever thought I was in love with a guy, especially a guy so… I don’t know, dudey.” Clary shrugged one shoulder. “I guess we went through so much together, I clung to him.”

Maia was surprised to hear the revelation, but also… Maybe not as surprised as she might have been. “Are you seeing anyone nice?” 

“No, this has kinda been my life for a couple of years,” Clary replied ruefully. “I had a steady girlfriend but she thought I was getting irrational with all this. She thought I’d been hit by a car or something.”

“That sucks, I’m sorry.”

“What about you?” Clary asked. “You said Magnus and Alec ended up together, Izzy and Simon, Luke and Alec’s mom, Jace and his wife… Did you get your happily ever after?” 

Maia giggled, shaking her head. “I don’t know, I dated a guy for a while after you left. Bat. He was a sweetheart but I just didn’t feel… I didn’t love him like he deserved. I cut him loose after a year.”

“That’s pretty selfless of you,” Clary observed, smiling slightly when Maia met her eyes. “I guess this place keeps you pretty busy, though.”

“Oh yeah,” Maia laughed, a little nervous all of a sudden. Sure, she’d always thought Clary was pretty, but she’d never thought that Clary liked women. While she was a shadowhunter, Clary had seemed pretty much untouchable. Up on a pedestal, gutting her enemies, shaking the world on its axis. Now, though, sitting opposite Maia in her little restaurant, she looked… Sweet. Small, approachable, gentle. Kind.

“The food is delicious, by the way. I one hundred percent approve of my name being attached to it.” She raised her glass of soda in Maia’s direction. 

“Thanks. I worked hard on the menu, I’m glad you like it.” 

Clary’s eyes crinkled a little as her smile widened. Maia hadn’t really seen Clary smile so warmly before. Mundane life looked good on Clary, she decided. “So… Maia. Do you think…? Maybe we could do this again sometime?”

“You can come by whenever you want,” Maia assured her, “Dot will be so happy to get to know you again.”

“I have so many questions for you,” Clary admitted, “and I appreciate you sitting here and laying it all out for me. You didn’t mention our relationship much so I’m guessing we weren’t as close as I’d assumed…”

“It’s okay. I mean, like I said, you saved my ass along with the rest of the downworld at least twice, so…”

Clary snorted. “I still struggle to imagine that. It all just sounds like a fairytale. I can’t believe I was capable of any of that.”

Maia tilted her head to the side, smiling. “You’re made of steel, Clary Fray.”

“Mmmm… We’ll see, I guess,” Clary chuckled. “But… Maybe next time we could go somewhere else… I could treat you. Maybe grab a drink afterwards… If you wanted.”

Maia bit her lip, her eyebrow arching. “Like a date?” 

“If that’s something you’d be into,” Clary said tentatively.

“It’s not weird that I knew… The old you?” 

“A little,” Clary admitted, “but you don’t know this me. You can get to know this version of me as I get to know you. And then maybe… Someday… You could introduce me to the others.”

Maia giggled. “I don’t know, Magnus will rip me a new asshole when he finds out about this.” 

Clary grinned, the mischief that Maia immediately recognised sparkling in her eyes. “We’ll see about that.”


End file.
